Simple Beef Stroganoff

February 26, 2014

Last night I made a stroganoff. I don’t make it often but it’s something my husband really enjoys and as it turns out, our little girl seems to think it’s pretty great too.

Stroganoff is incredibly simple to make, it’s not fancy at all but it is delicious and probably looks like you put a lot more effort into it than you actually did. The most labor intensive part is chopping the ingredients.

Below I’ve outlined the step by step process for anyone who is interested in throwing together their own delicious creamy beef goo.

I have included an ingredients list but I have not included proportions because that part is really up to you. Personally, I wish I went a lot heavier on the onions last night but that’s just my preference.

Ingredients:

diced beef

mushrooms

large onion (s)

olive oil

Knorr rich beef stock pots (or comparable beef stock cubes)

sour cream

corn starch

cracked black pepper

pasta or rice

The first thing you need to do is chop the onions, mushrooms and meat. I always make sure the mushrooms are large enough to be recognizable because my husband would rather shave his face with a rusty razor blindfolded than eat a mushroom however, he doesn’t mind picking them out so we compromise.

Be sure to trim any large pieces of fat from the beef and try to make the hunks semi uniform in size.

Next pile the meat, onions and mushrooms into a frying pan or a wok and turn the heat onto medium high. I like to start this off with a little bit of olive oil to provide some lubrication before the ingredients start to give up their moisture. (about 1-2 tsp)

Stir frequently and fry everything until it’s all cooked through and the onions are transparent. If you want the meat to turn out more tender you can cook it all on a lower heat for a longer period of time.

Once everything reaches the point of being cooked the ingredients should have given up the perfect amount of stock for your gravy. If you need more because it has boiled away you can add in boiling water but ideally you don’t’ want to have to do this.

Turn the heat down to a low medium and add in the stock as well as the pepper and any other spices you might like to try in there. I prefer using garlic pepper which is dehydrated garlic pieces with cracked pepper and bell pepper. I use it in almost everything.

Add in one stock cube or stock pot at a time and then TASTE the stock once it’s mixed through. It’s easy to add but pretty damn near impossible to take away. I used two stock pots because I’d made a pretty enormous batch.

Once you are happy with your broth it’s time to thicken it up and you do this with a mixture of corn starch and water. Get some COLD water out of the tap (about 1/4 of a cup) and then mix in a tablespoon of corn starch. Once dissolved the corn starch mixture should look like milk but it should be thick enough that the liquid will coat the back of your spoon. If it’s not coating, add in more cornstarch until is does.

Next turn the heat up high enough to bring everything to a boil and as it’s boiling away dribble in some of the cornstarch mixture and stir it all together. You will find that the stock turns into a meat coating delicious gravy very quickly. If it’s still too runny, trickle in a bit more until you’re happy with the consistency. You probably won’t need to use all of the cornstarch that you made up.

The final stage is to add in sour cream to give it that signature stroganoff-y flavor.

Turn the heat down to a low simmer and add in a tablespoon of sour cream at a time. Stir it through and taste the sauce after each addition until you’re happy with the flavor.